Pittsburgh diocese votes to exit Episcopal Church

Aligns with Anglican Province of the Southern Cone

Nov 04, 2008

The Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Pittsburgh, as expected, has voted to split from the national church. In the October 4 balloting, clergy and laypeople voted 240 to 102 for secession and realignment with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Alluding to contentions over homosexuality and biblical interpretation, Peter Frank, a spokesperson for the diocese, said “this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity.”

Last December, the Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California, became the first diocese to secede and join the more conservative Southern Cone. Two more dioceses—Quincy, Illinois, and Fort Worth, Texas—are scheduled to hold similar secession votes in November.

Conservatives form a majority in the 77 million–member Anglican Communion but a minority in the Episcopal Church, which has 2.2 million members and 110 dioceses.